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Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

Hello everyone.

Well, I am starting this thread because I want some feedback on a few distros. I'm not looking for a distro, I just wanted to hear some experiences with some distros, advantages, disadvantages, liks, dislikes etc...

I'll start by listing some of the distros i've used, what I've liked/disliked etc...

This is in no particular order:

Red Hat 7.0 -- First experience with Linux...fun, learned
Red Hat 7.1 and 7.2 -- learning more...liked 7.2 best at this point

Mandrake 9.1 -- trying it out tonight...seems nice, although seems 'heavy', I need more time with it

What I like when I use linux...
I like a 'light' type of setup...meaning, I do not like KDE or GNOME as I feel it is way to resource intensive. Reminds me of Windows. I usually use something like Blackbox or Window Maker...
Plus, i've used the following:

FreeBSD 4.5, 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8 -- 4.8 really nice
OpenBSD 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3
NetBSD 1.6.1 -- you can get this to run on a toaster!

Anyways, Mandrake seems to remind me a bit like Red Hat. However, one thing i've noticed is that Mandrake seems to get package updates quicker than Red Hat...for instance, i found a samba 3.0 alpha release package for Mandrake...(the cooker)

Here is a quick Q: Is there much difference between Red Hat and Mandrake? They seem very similar. Is one more suited than the other for certain setups?

With that in mind, anyone want to share their experiences?

Also, something else I thought about just now...

Being that I use Red Hat at my work (our servers at this point, are all Red Hat 7.3 and we have a couple of *BSD servers...)

This may start a flame war, but that is not the point. What I was curious about is, between Red Hat and Mandrake, is either of these two distros more suited for a Company network? Meaning, does one of these distros have a upper hand at all in being used in Company networks?

I know RH has a lot of push to be used for company networks as well as web servers, mail and DNS servers...

What about Mandrake?
Would one or the other be better to use for a &quot;Professional Growth&quot; type of setup? I mean, would using one be more beneficial to use in fine tuning your skills for Linux use in the IT World?

Re: Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

Mandrake originally started as a modified version of RedHat, and thus they have some similarities. Mandrake is more oriented towards the new linux user, and has a lot of simplified GUI setup tools from my understanding. RedHat has some of these setup tools, but not to the same extent. Mandrake, from my understanding (although I've never tried it) is more suited for desktop use than server use. I would think that RedHat would be better to use in a server situation. I haven't used RH since 7.x and i've never tried drake though, so I could be off in left field with this.

As for distro's i've tried, with brief descriptions:

RedHat 7.x My first attempt at linux, learned a shitload (as it was my first time ) but disliked the bloat.Slackware I think I started off with 7.x, not entirely sure the version, then later used 8.0, I quite liked it, fast, stable, a very nice distro. Although package management was a little bit of a pain, and I found it a little tricky at times, but that was good, because it taught me a lot. (first distro I used at home)Debian (Knoppix) LOVED the package management, wasn't perticularly fast, but wasn't slow either. Had a great time with apt-get until it messed up on my and screwed over my system a little.Linux From Scratch Tricky install, very time consuming, no package management, but I definitely reccommend trying it because it's a great learning experience. This one really taught me a lot.LR's Linux Basically an automated LFS with X and KDE and such, took a couple days to compile, then I couldn't get the package management system to do anything, so it got thrown out very fast.Gentoo Install is long and a little painful, but once it's overwith you get a great system, optimized, with excellent package management. This one's been my favorite distro for a while now.

Re: Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

You may want to take a look at the &quot;Distro Choice NHF&quot; I wrote for linuxnewbie.org (now justlinux.com) a few years ago. The version numbers are old, but it all still applies. Consider this note permission to take it and edit it/redistribute it, but give me some credit.

Re: Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

I've got to pretty much agree with what PK said about the differences between RH and Mandrake.

I can't say much for or against the BSD's since I've never used them. Hopefully that'll change soon though.

I always mention RH when listing Linux on my resume if for no other reason that name recognition about the &quot;point-hair&quot; types. To them RedHat is Linux like AOL is the internet. Well, maybe not that bad but you get my point.

Re: Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

If you like FreeBSD, you should give Gentoo a try - it's really awesome, but then again, I'm the local Gentoo pimp.

One good thing about Gentoo is that their users are exceedingly helpful, and the forums are a great source for help, even for the tinyist problems. And the users actively help keep Gentoo updated - I fx. provided ebuilds for the lastest GNOME development release, for those willing to test it.

Gentoo makes a for a good system once it's setup, it's constantly updated, it's easy to maintain and has some good ideas concerning runlevels, etc. The user compiled software vs. precompiled software argument, well, it's faster, but not extrememly. The really nice thing about compiling by yourself is the USE flags (insert plug for the rbuild janitor project here http://linux.emulation64.com), you can decide what you need support for, and leaving the bloat to a minimum (in theory)

Re: Comparrison between few distros...feedback wanted

I started out with a way early Slackware version, which wouldn't run correctly on my computer. Then I tried Caldera OpenLinux 2.2, which was great. Then I tried Mandrake 7.1, which was awesome but bloated. Since then, I've tried several RH versions (too bloated, just like Mandy). I fell in love with Slackware 8, which rocks. I've also fallen head over heals for Debian (if you've ever installed Slack, you can easily install Debian).

I think Mandrake started out based on RH with KDE/Qt (which RH wouldn't put on their cd's at the time, due to the restricted, non-free license policy of QT). Now there aren't too many real differences between the two. It just boils down to the installer and the various tools that each provides.